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Amir al-Mu'minin
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Amir al-Mu'minin
Amir al-Mu'minin (Arabic: أَمِيرُ المُؤمنين, romanized: ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn) or Commander of the Believers or Commander of the Faithful is a Muslim title designating the supreme leader of an Islamic community.
Although etymologically ʾamīr (Arabic: أَمِير) is equivalent to English "commander", the wide variety of its historical and modern use allows for a range of translations. The historian H.A.R. Gibb, however, counsels against the translation "Prince of the Believers" as "neither philologically nor historically correct".
The title ʾamīr was used for Muslim military commanders during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad. It was, for example, borne by the Muslim commander at the Battle of al-Qadisiyya. On his accession in 634, the second caliph Umar (r. 634–644) adopted the title. This was likely not for its military connotation, but rather deriving from a Quranic injunction to "Obey God and obey the Apostle and those invested with command among you" (Sura 4, verses 58–62).
According to Fred M. Donner, the title's adoption marked a step in the centralization of the nascent Muslim state, as the ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn was acknowledged as the central authority of the expanding Muslim empire, responsible for appointing and dismissing generals and governors, taking major political decisions, and keeping the dīwān (Arabic: دیوان), the list of those Muslims entitled to a share of the spoils of conquest. From Umar on, the title became a fixed part of caliphal titulature. Indeed, it appears to have been the chief title of the early caliphs, and the actual title of caliph (Arabic: خليفة, romanized: khalifa, lit. 'successor') does not appear to have been adopted until the reign of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (r. 685–705), who adopted it as a means to strengthen his position, which had become shaky following the Second Fitna.
Among Sunnis, the adoption of the title of ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn became virtually tantamount to claiming the caliphate. As a result, the title was used by the great Islamic dynasties that claimed the universal leadership over the Muslim community: the Umayyads, Abbasids, and Fatimids. In later centuries, it was also adopted by regional rulers, especially in the western parts of the Muslim world, who used the caliphal rank to emphasize their independent authority and legitimacy, rather than any ecumenical claim. The Umayyads of Cordoba adopted it in 928, whence it was also used by several other minor rulers of al-Andalus. From 1253, the Hafsids of Ifriqiya claimed the caliphate, and were followed by the Marinids of Morocco, following whom all successive Moroccan dynasties—the last two of them, the Sa'di dynasty and the current Alawi dynasty, also by virtue of their claimed descent from Muhammad—have also claimed it. The Constitution of Morocco still uses the term ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn as the principal title of the King of Morocco, as a means to "[legitimize the monarchy's] hegemonic role and its position outside significant constitutional restraint".
At the same time, the title has retained a connotation of command in the jihād (Arabic: جِهَاد, "holy war") and has been used thus throughout history, without necessarily implying a claim to the caliphate. It was used in this sense by the early Ottoman sultans—who notably rarely used the caliphal title after they took it from the Abbasids in 1517—as well as various West African Muslim warlords until the modern period. The title was used by Aurangzeb, the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire. Muhammad Umar Khan of the Kokand Khanate took on the title.
Abdelkader El Djezairi assumed the title in 1834. The Afghan ruler Dost Mohammad Khan likewise used it when he proclaimed a jihād against the Sikh Empire in 1836. According to historian Richard Pennell, this pattern reflects the use of the term ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn for regional rulers with the connotations of wide-ranging and absolute authority over a region, the power to conduct relations with foreign states, the upkeep of the Sharia, and the protection of Muslim territory from non-believers. Timur (Tamerlane) also used the title.[citation needed]
When Hussein bin Ali was buried in the compound of the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a caliph in 1931, the following inscription was written on the window above his tomb: Arabic: هَذَا قَبْرُ أَمِيرِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٱلْحُسَيْن بْنُ عَلِي, romanized: Haḏa qabru ʾamīri ʾal-mūˈminīna ʾal-Ḥusayn bnu ʿAlī, which translates to "This is the tomb of the Commander of the Faithful, Hussein bin Ali."
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Amir al-Mu'minin
Amir al-Mu'minin (Arabic: أَمِيرُ المُؤمنين, romanized: ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn) or Commander of the Believers or Commander of the Faithful is a Muslim title designating the supreme leader of an Islamic community.
Although etymologically ʾamīr (Arabic: أَمِير) is equivalent to English "commander", the wide variety of its historical and modern use allows for a range of translations. The historian H.A.R. Gibb, however, counsels against the translation "Prince of the Believers" as "neither philologically nor historically correct".
The title ʾamīr was used for Muslim military commanders during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad. It was, for example, borne by the Muslim commander at the Battle of al-Qadisiyya. On his accession in 634, the second caliph Umar (r. 634–644) adopted the title. This was likely not for its military connotation, but rather deriving from a Quranic injunction to "Obey God and obey the Apostle and those invested with command among you" (Sura 4, verses 58–62).
According to Fred M. Donner, the title's adoption marked a step in the centralization of the nascent Muslim state, as the ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn was acknowledged as the central authority of the expanding Muslim empire, responsible for appointing and dismissing generals and governors, taking major political decisions, and keeping the dīwān (Arabic: دیوان), the list of those Muslims entitled to a share of the spoils of conquest. From Umar on, the title became a fixed part of caliphal titulature. Indeed, it appears to have been the chief title of the early caliphs, and the actual title of caliph (Arabic: خليفة, romanized: khalifa, lit. 'successor') does not appear to have been adopted until the reign of the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (r. 685–705), who adopted it as a means to strengthen his position, which had become shaky following the Second Fitna.
Among Sunnis, the adoption of the title of ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn became virtually tantamount to claiming the caliphate. As a result, the title was used by the great Islamic dynasties that claimed the universal leadership over the Muslim community: the Umayyads, Abbasids, and Fatimids. In later centuries, it was also adopted by regional rulers, especially in the western parts of the Muslim world, who used the caliphal rank to emphasize their independent authority and legitimacy, rather than any ecumenical claim. The Umayyads of Cordoba adopted it in 928, whence it was also used by several other minor rulers of al-Andalus. From 1253, the Hafsids of Ifriqiya claimed the caliphate, and were followed by the Marinids of Morocco, following whom all successive Moroccan dynasties—the last two of them, the Sa'di dynasty and the current Alawi dynasty, also by virtue of their claimed descent from Muhammad—have also claimed it. The Constitution of Morocco still uses the term ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn as the principal title of the King of Morocco, as a means to "[legitimize the monarchy's] hegemonic role and its position outside significant constitutional restraint".
At the same time, the title has retained a connotation of command in the jihād (Arabic: جِهَاد, "holy war") and has been used thus throughout history, without necessarily implying a claim to the caliphate. It was used in this sense by the early Ottoman sultans—who notably rarely used the caliphal title after they took it from the Abbasids in 1517—as well as various West African Muslim warlords until the modern period. The title was used by Aurangzeb, the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire. Muhammad Umar Khan of the Kokand Khanate took on the title.
Abdelkader El Djezairi assumed the title in 1834. The Afghan ruler Dost Mohammad Khan likewise used it when he proclaimed a jihād against the Sikh Empire in 1836. According to historian Richard Pennell, this pattern reflects the use of the term ʾAmīr al-Muʾminīn for regional rulers with the connotations of wide-ranging and absolute authority over a region, the power to conduct relations with foreign states, the upkeep of the Sharia, and the protection of Muslim territory from non-believers. Timur (Tamerlane) also used the title.[citation needed]
When Hussein bin Ali was buried in the compound of the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a caliph in 1931, the following inscription was written on the window above his tomb: Arabic: هَذَا قَبْرُ أَمِيرِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٱلْحُسَيْن بْنُ عَلِي, romanized: Haḏa qabru ʾamīri ʾal-mūˈminīna ʾal-Ḥusayn bnu ʿAlī, which translates to "This is the tomb of the Commander of the Faithful, Hussein bin Ali."